More high school students are abstaining from sex, and those who are sexually active are using condoms more, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last week.

Students and staff at Ames High School have given information consistent with the study.

“From my own personal contacts, there are fewer pregnancies than there have been in the past,” said Larry Zwagerman, counselor at Ames High. “If [the study results show] the truth, that would mean that our education programs are working.”

Ames High requires students to take a health class, which includes education on sexual issues. Pamphlets and brochures about sex, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are available, as well as counselors, but the class is the primary resource for information on sex at the school, Zwagerman said.

“[The class] not only talks about physical health, but also sex health, sexuality and sexual practices,” he said.

He said students are usually not timid when talking to counselors about sexual issues.

“We’ve found that students are pretty willing to talk about that if we’re willing to bring it up in the first place,” Zwagerman said. “They’re usually not embarrassed or bashful about it.”

He said students occasionally come to counselors with sexual crises. If there is a pregnancy, students are encouraged to talk to their families and seek medical help. If the problem is less serious, the school nurse is usually brought in to help.

“If somebody comes [in] and they have a question, if it’s something that needs further evaluation, then I just simply refer them to what would answer their needs,” said Ames High nurse Karleene Smith.

Zwagerman said there are several “excellent” resources in Ames.

“Counselors are constantly updated on these [options],” he said.

He said counselors discuss and encourage birth control for students, but the school does not make condoms available.

“That would probably be a board policy decision that hasn’t been made,” Zwagerman said. “One opinion is that we don’t want to encourage sexual activity — there are varying opinions on … how to handle the issue.”

He said if a student needed condoms, the school would refer him or her to an outside agency in Ames.

“The studies show that responsible sex education does not lead to promiscuity by teens,” said Krista Noah, manager of Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa in Ames. “Being an educational resource, we’ve long believed that.”

Noah said the number of teens engaging in sexual activity has actually declined over the years.

“I sure hope [the number has declined],” Zwagerman said. “That would mean that education does work.”

Study results show that students who admitted to being sexually active said they are using condoms more often now.

“A majority of our patients leave [Planned Parenthood] with condoms,” Noah said.

She said during the last fiscal year, 173 of Planned Parenthood’s 4,132 patients, about 4 percent, were age 17 or younger.

While many of the teen-age patients come to Planned Parenthood for basic reproductive health, Noah said young people also come for the hepatitis B vaccines.

“We have seen lately a lot more high school students because of the [hepatitis B vaccine] program,” she said.

Noah stressed that Planned Parenthood offers many educational programs, and she said the information high school-aged students get from Planned Parenthood reduces sexual activity rather than encourages it.